Asian American Identity Module
By: Jully Dong, Program Coordinator for First-Generation Experience, FIRST@DU,
Dong Dinh, Director of First-Generation Experience, FIRST@DU, &
Jasmine Yap, Director of Inclusive Teaching Practices, Office of Teaching and Learning
As institutions of higher education work to foster more inclusive learning environments, understanding the diverse experiences of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students is essential. This module, developed by staff in FIRST@DU and the Office of Teaching and Learning, provides faculty with frameworks, pedagogical strategies, and practical recommendations for creating culturally responsive classrooms that recognize and affirm AANHPI identities. This module includes key insights and offers actionable steps for implementing these practices in your teaching.
This module covers:
Setting the Stage
IN YOUR CLASSROOM
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AANHPI students may resist being positioned as a monolith. Avoid generalizing academic strengths or challenges across the group. In your syllabus and course materials, use specific ethnic identifiers when referencing scholarship — for example, “Vietnamese American,” “Southeast Asian American” — rather than the umbrella term AANHPI alone. When students self-identify, follow their lead on terminology.
Pedagogical Strategies
TRY THIS IN YOUR COURSE
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Audit your syllabus for representation: Does your reading list include scholars, practitioners, or case studies from AANHPI communities relevant to your discipline? Even one addition per unit signals belonging.
Name the “model minority myth” explicitly: In your first week or in your syllabus, briefly acknowledge that stereotypes about academic performance create real pressure. You don’t need a full lecture — a single sentence normalizes the conversation.
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Invite, don’t assume, cultural expertise: Rather than asking AANHPI students to speak for their communities, design optional reflection prompts that allow any student to connect course content to lived experience.
Use asset-based framing in feedback: When commenting on student work, acknowledge multilingual or multicultural knowledge as intellectual strength, not a barrier to overcome.
Recognizing How Cultural Norms Influence Classroom Behavior
Additionally, faculty should be aware of how cultural norms influence classroom behavior. For example, students from collectivist cultures may prefer one-on-one interactions over public questioning and may avoid challenging authority figures in class. These behaviors should not be misinterpreted as disengagement but understood within their cultural context.
Transparent Teaching and the Culture of Power
Lisa Delpit’s concept of the “culture of power” underscores the importance of making implicit academic norms explicit for students from non-dominant backgrounds (Delpit, 1988). The Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TiLT) framework helps faculty demystify expectations by clearly articulating assignment purposes, task requirements, and evaluation criteria (TILT Higher Ed, n.d.).
For AANHPI students—especially international students—transparent teaching practices can reduce confusion and anxiety around academic expectations. This is particularly important given the linguistic and cultural barriers many face, even after meeting formal English proficiency standards.
ACTIONABLE STEP — TRANSPARENT ASSIGNMENT DESIGN
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Use the TILT (Transparency in Learning and Teaching) framework for at least one major assignment this term. Explicitly state the purpose (why this skill matters), the task (what students are doing), and the criteria (what success looks like). Research shows this reduces the performance gap for first-generation and international students — two populations overrepresented among AANHPI learners at many institutions.
Download a TILT templateRace-Related Curriculum and AsianCrit Framework
Exposure to race-related content—such as the history of AANHPI communities, critical race theory, and literature by AANHPI authors—can prompt students to reflect on their racial identities and develop deeper understandings of systemic racism.
The AsianCrit framework, developed by Asian American scholars, examines how Asian Americans have been racialized within social, political, and structural systems, and how this racialization affects their educational experiences and outcomes in higher education (Buenavista, Jayakumar, & Misa-Escalante, 2009). Building on Critical Race Theory, Museus and Iftikar (2018) proposed and popularized an AsianCrit framework that centers the lived experiences and racial realities of Asian Americans. Its seven tenets include:
Asianization
Challenges the model minority myth and perpetual foreigner stereotype.
Transnational Context
Recognizes the impact of imperialism, migration, and war.
(Re)Constructive History
Reclaims Asian American historical narratives.
Strategic (Anti)Essentialism
Balances group advocacy with recognition of diversity.
Intersectionality
Examines overlapping systems of oppression.
Story, Theory, Praxis
Uses experiential knowledge to inform practice.
Commitment to Social Justice
Advocates for equity and systemic change.
FACILITATING DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS ABOUT RACE WITH AANHPI STUDENTS
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If a student shares a discrimination experience, resist pivoting immediately to “solutions” — acknowledge the experience first.
Familiarize yourself with DU’s bias reporting resources through the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity so you can share them if a student discloses an incident.
Recommendations
Institutional-Level Recommendations
Disaggregate AANHPI Data: Move beyond IPEDS requirements to collect detailed demographic data. This helps avoid essentializing AANHPI experiences and reveals disparities among subgroups (Teranishi, Lok, & Nguyen, 2013).
Elevate Ethnic Studies: Promote the ethnic studies minor to a major, ensuring AANHPI stories, theory, and praxis are prioritized alongside other racial groups. Hire faculty with expertise in AANHPI content.
Audit Curriculum: Compile and assess all AANHPI-related course content to evaluate representation and depth. Ensure courses reflect the diversity and complexity of AANHPI communities.
Create Physical and Academic Spaces: Partner with campus units to establish spaces where AANHPI students feel seen and supported. These spaces should foster heritage pride, community building, and academic engagement.
Faculty-Level Recommendations
Incorporate AANHPI Narratives: Include AANHPI literature, history, and scholarship in course materials. Avoid deficit framing and tokenism.
Use Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Design assignments and assessments that honor collectivist values and cultural learning styles.
Practice Transparent Teaching: Use TiLT strategies to clarify expectations and reduce barriers to success.
Be Aware of Acculturation Experience: Faculty should develop awareness of the acculturation experiences of international AANHPI students. Recognize emotional and social support needs, and avoid expecting conformity to dominant norms. Encourage practices that view students as co-constructors of the learning environment rather than passive recipients.
Support Mental Health: Understand cultural stigmas around mental health and proactively connect students to resources. Normalize help-seeking behaviors in classroom discussions and syllabi.